Clariant to buy Gulf of Mexico assets from Ecolab

ZURICH, April 15 (Reuters) - Swiss chemicals firm Clariant has signed a deal with Ecolab Inc to buy some of its deep water assets in the Gulf of Mexico but is not disclosing financial details.

Clariant said cleaning services company Ecolab had to divest the assets to win U.S. approval for its $2.2 billion acquisition of privately held oilfield specialty chemicals maker Champion Technologies Inc, announced last October.

Clariant said the assets it was buying included Champion’s oil and gas production chemicals services in the deep water Gulf of Mexico, adding the deal complemented its strategy to further expand its deep water operations in the region and globally.

The Swiss company, which sold three of its lower-margin cyclical units late last year, is currently looking to streamline even further with the sale of leather, detergents and intermediates businesses.